Mandalore was the Basic transliteration of the title used by the the supreme leader of the Mandalorian people and culture. In its truest, native rendering as Mand'alor, the title meant "sole ruler" in the Mandalorian language of Mando'a. Originating with Mandalore the First, the mythic leader of the Taung warriors who went on to become the first Mandalorians, Mand'alor became the title passed down for use by the subsequent leaders of the people for generations after. Functioning as a combination of both king and warrior general, the Mand'alor was the closest to a head of state the wide-spread Mandalorian clans possessed, and in addition to holding the secondary title of Al'Ori'Ramikade—"Commander of Supercommandos"—Mand'alor was the de facto ruler of the Mandalorians' conquered home planet, the eponymous Outer Rimworld of Mandalore. Outsiders to the Mandalorian culture often respectfully addressed the Mandalorian leader as Lord Mandalore. The importance of the Mand'alor was reflected in the six tenets that outlined Mandalorian culture, the Resol'nare, one of which dictated that a Mandalorian rally to the Mand'alor when called upon.

For years, the position of Mand'alor was traditionally symbolized by the passing of the mask of Mandalore upon the death of the previous owner, but in later times this custom had faded into antiquity, and new Mandalores needed only the support of the people to ascend to the role. Numerous Mandalores also took to adapting descriptive epithets, in order to distinguish themselves from those who came before and after. Following the foundation of the New Mandalorians, the pacifist sect rejected the authority of the clan-chosen Mandalores, and instead appointed their own leaders in opposition to those who ruled the warrior clans. The Death Watch, in turn, appointed their own Secret Mandalores in opposition to both the New Mandalorians and the unaffiliated warrior clans. During this period of social division in the Mandalorian culture, the traditionally chosen Mand'alor of the clans became known as the "True Mandalore," as a means of countering the claims of the New Mandalorian and Death Watch leaders. Throughout the history of the galaxy, at least twenty-one Mandalorians declared themselves Mand'alor, and met with varied degrees of success in their attempts to lead the Mandalorian people.

The title of Mandalore was the Galactic Basic Standard transliteration of the Mando'a word Mand'alor, which meant "sole ruler" in the Mandalorianlanguage.[9] The position of Mand'alor was a combination of king, warlord, and general in function,[4] often carrying with it the additional title of Al'Ori'Ramikade, "Commander of Supercommandos."[10] A non-hereditary role,[4] only a Mandalorian deemed worthy could claim the title of Mand'alor,[11] exemplifying the Mandalorian meritocracy ideal.[8] When the previous Mandalore fell[12] or stepped down,[1] a Mandalorian with both vision and strength could make a claim for the title, but if the other clans did not accept the individual as the new Mand'alor and recognize their authority, their duty was to remove the unsuitable claimant and institute a more favorable leader.[4] The significance of the Mand'alor's role in Mandalorian society was so great that one of the Resol'nare—the six basic tenets that defined Mandalorian culture—detailed the importance of loyalty toward the Mand'alor, and rallying to the Mandalorian leader when called upon.[8]

In addition to being the leader of the Mandalorian people, the Mand'alor was the de facto leader of the planetMandalore, the Mandalorian homeworld with which the title shared its Basic-translated name. Both the planet and its leader had been granted such similar titles due to the fact that Mandalore the planet, and Mandalore the leader were supposed to be synonymous in the eyes of the Mandalorians, with the Mand'alor acting in the best interests of the planet and its people.[9][13] Mandalorians referred to their leader either by title or by name, when on an informal basis.[13] Non-Mandalorians, however, often addressed the Mand'alor by the additionally formal title of "Lord Mandalore" when wishing to be respectful.[14][15] During times of war, the Mand'alor was expected to serve as a strong leader on the battlefield. During times of peace, it was the Mandalore's duty to liaise with the various clan chieftains who comprised a loose government,[13] over which only the Mand'alor held greater authority in traditional Mandalorian society,[16] in order to make decisions concerning the planet Mandalore, Mandalorian space, and Mandalorians living throughout the galaxy.[13]

When the Taungrace was driven from Coruscant by the HumanBattalions of Zhell in the yearsprior to the foundation of the Galactic Republic, they fled to the planet Roon. In 7000 BBY, under the leadership of the legendary Mandalore the First, the Taung traveled to a new world in the Outer Rim. Slaughtering the native mythosaur inhabitants, the Taung named the world Manda'yaim,[17] or "home of Mandalore"[18] in honor of their leader, in addition to recasting themselves as the Mandalorians[16]or Mando'ade—"sons and daughters of Mandalore."[19] It was the example of Mandalore the First that led to the title of Mandalore[1] and its Mando'a equivalent of Mand'alor,[18] to traditionally be used to signify the leader of the Mandalorian clans.[1]

Shortly before 4000 BBY,[3] and some time after the reign of Mandalore the Conqueror,[20]Mandalore the Indomitable had become the new Mand'alor.[3] By this time, the position of Mand'alor was symbolized by the war mask of Mandalore, passed down to a successor when the previous leader perished.[12] With an army of Mandalorian Crusaders, Mandalore led his warriors on a campaign to conquer new worlds that put him into conflict with the newly anointed Sith Lord, Ulic Qel-Droma. Mandalore was defeated in single combat on Kuar by the former Jedi, and thus pledged his service and the service of his warriors to the Sith. The Mandalorians engaged the Republic on behalf of the Brotherhood of the Sith, culminating in the battle at Onderon, where Mandalore fell, and a new warrior claimed his mask and the title of Mand'alor. Indomitable's successor,[21]Mandalore the Ultimate, reorganized the Mandalorian warriors according to the Neo-Crusader movement,[3] and led the Mandalorians into the Mandalorian Wars with the Republic, during which he conquered vast expanses of the galaxy. But Mandalore the Ultimate met his match in the rogue Jedi KnightRevan, who slew the Mand'alor on Malachor V and defeated the Neo-Crusader army.[17] Following his victory, Revan claimed the mask of Mandalore for himself, and denied the Mandalorians the right of succession, allowing for the unified clans to fragment and scatter without direction.[12]

Though yet another Taung attempted to claim the title of Mand'alor,[3] it wasn't until Revan gifted the mask to his trusted one time companion, the Mandalorian warrior named Canderous Ordo, that the tradition of the Mandalore was allowed to truly continue.[12] Ordo took the sobriquet of "Mandalore the Preserver," and at the insistence of Revan, began to gather the scattered Mandalorian clans, establishing a headquarters on Onderon's moon, Dxun. Banding together under the banner of Clan Ordo, Mandalore the Preserver's assembled warriors aided Meetra Surik in battling against the forces of the Sith Triumvirate during the Dark Wars.[12][3] However, in spite of Ordo's attempts to reunite the clans, the Mandalorians remained predominantly fragmented for several centuries. That all changed when a young Mandalorian gladiator rose to fame on the planet Geonosis:[11] defeating all of his opponents with the help of Imperial Intelligenceagents in the employ of the reconstituted Sith Empire, the gladiator used his notoriety to claim the title of Mand'alor.[22] As the leader who became known as Mandalore the Lesser,[4] the new Mand'alor rallied the widespread Mandalorian forces, but did so in accordance with the orders of his Sith masters. He blockaded the Hydian Waytrade route, but was defeated by a contingent of smugglers.[22] In an effort to regain support, Mandalore the Lesser initiated the galaxy-wide competition for glory known as the Great Hunt, only to be challenged by the victor, and killed. The Great Hunt's champion, Artus Lok, took the title of Mand'alor for himself, consolidating his power and defeating a Mandalorian pro-Republic schism led by Jicoln Cadera. Under the title "Mandalore the Vindicated," Artus ensured the Mandalorians remained allies of the Sith, albeit cautious and highly paid ones.[4]

Long after the reign of Mandalore the Vindicated, the Mandalorian training master Jaing attempted to bring several Mandalorian clans under his guidance. However, by that point in time, a ruthless Mandalorian by the name of Ung Kusp[1] asserted himself as Mandalore. An act of betrayal set Kusp against Jaing, and the Mand'alor's loyal soldiers killed Jaing at the facilities of a cyberneticist in the Outer Rim. Jaing's apprentice, the Gen'Dai warrior known as Durge, vowed to avenge his fallen master,[23] and developed an intense hatred for the Mandalorian people. Durge's thirst for revenge led him[24] to ally with a rogue group of Jedi Knights in 100 BBY, on a vengeful strike against the Mand'alor as retaliation for the Mandalorian genocide of the Ithullan race.[21] The mercenary Aga Awaud returned home to Mandalore at the tail end of the New Sith Wars, only to find that his clan had been ravaged by the Candorian plague and the Mandalore sector was on the defensive against raiders and pirates. He rallied his scattered people to return and defend Mandalore, becoming "Mandalore the Uniter" as he rebuilt Mandalorian space.[2] At some point during this era, the galaxy saw the rise of the female Mandalorian Ranah Teh Naast as "Mandalore the Destroyer," and history witnessed her lay siege to the city of Luon.[25]

Around 60 BBY,[21]Jaster Mereel beat out Tor Vizsla for the position of Mand'alor.[26] Determined to reform the increasingly amoral ways of the Mandalorian warrior clans since the destruction of the Ithullans, Mereel established the Supercommando Codex,[21] guidelines dictating that any Mandalorian who wished to fight would behave as honorable mercenaries.[26] Mereel's reforms were met with opposition both from the pacifistic New Mandalorian faction—who rejected the traditional authority of the Mandalores chosen by the warrior clans,[2] often referred to during this time as "True Mandalores,"[27] instead appointing their own Mand'alor[28]—and, more dangerously, by Tor Vizsla, who hated Mereel for stealing power over the Mandalorians away from him. With talk of returning the Mandalorians to their crusading roots and igniting another war of conquest, Vizsla gathered to him like-minded warriors to form the splinter group that came to be known as Death Watch,[26] declaring himself the Mand'alor in secret.[27] Mereel's loyal soldiers recast themselves as the "True Mandalorians" in turn,[26] and civil war soon broke out.[21] Mereel was killed by Vizsla during the course of the war, but the Mand'alor was succeeded by his surrogate son, Jango Fett. Fett led the Mandalorians throughout the rest of the war up until the Battle of Galidraan where the Death Watch deceived a team of Jedi into destroying the True Mandalorian army; Fett was the only survivor, but his subsequent stint as a slave courtesy of the Governor of Galidraan, and the loss of his comrades,[26] made Fett bitter and distant from his people. He turned to a life as a bounty hunter up until his death at the Battle of Geonosis.[5]

During the later years of Fett's reign as Mand'alor,[5] in the time following the Great Clan Wars, when the Death Watch had attempted and failed to depose the New Mandalorian regime, the pacifist people appointed Satine Kryze as their own Mand'alor,[28] refusing to recognize Fett.[2] In the wake of Jango Fett's death in 22 BBY, the Mandalorian warrior clans were left without a proper Mand'alor.[5]Pre Vizsla, kinsman of Tor Vizsla and the new leader of the Death Watch in hiding[29] by 22 BBY,[30] believed that he was in fact continuing the tradition of the Mand'alor in the face of the political dominance established by the New Mandalorian government.[31] In 20 BBY, the Death Watch was able to depose Kryze and the New Mandalorian leadership with the aid of a collective of crime lords lead by the Sith Darth Maul, allowing Pre Vizsla to take his place at the head of both Death Watch, and the New Mandalorian people. Unfortunately for him, Vizsla's rule was short lived: challenged for leadership by Maul after a betrayal of is former ally's trust, Vizsla was defeated and killed in a duel, after which Maul claimed the title[28] of Secret Mandalore for himself, along with the right to rule Death Watch. Death Watch fragmented at the claim, with a portion of the sect refusing to follow the rule of a non-Mandalorian.[28] Maul was later subdued by his former Sith MasterDarth Sidious, and the New Mandalorians were left under the leadership of Prime MinisterAlmec, who was backed by Death Watch.[28]

The position of the traditional Mandalorian leader of the clans was filled once again with the arrival of Spar—a former ARC trooper and deserter from the Galactic Republic's clone army—on the planet Mandalore. There,[1] spurred by the clan chieftain Fenn Shysa,[5] Spar took the title "Mandalore the Resurrector," won out over the New Mandalorian faction,[17] and led the Mandalorians in support of the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. As the new Mand'alor, Spar waged war against the forces of the Republic with his army of Mandalorian Protectors up until the disastrous mission to Norval II, where the only Mandalorians to escape from a Republic ambush alive were Spar, Shysa, and Shysa's friend Tobbi Dala. Returning to Mandalore, a traumatized Spar stepped down from being Mand'alor[1] and left the position vacant again.[5]

With the rise of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY and the Imperial occupation of Mandalore, Fenn Shysa was pressed to ascend to the role of Mand'alor as part of a covert campaign to force the Empire off the Mandalorian homeworld.[5] Under Shysa's leadership, the Mandalorians won their freedom from the Empire, driving the Imperial forces off of Mandalore,[10] and with the Mand'alor's guidance, the Mandalorians flourished. Even still, Shysa's past came back to haunt him years later, when Jango Fett's clone son, Boba Fett, was hired to kill Shysa in revenge for his actions during the Clone Wars. Tracking the Mand'alor to the planet Shogun, Fett succeeded in killing the Mandalorian leader,[1] but not as he had planned—coming under attack from the Sevvets, Shysa was mortally wounded after saving Fett's life. With Shysa unable to flee and Fett unwilling to leave the Mandalorian leader to a death at the hands of the Sevvets, Fett killed the Mand'alor as an act of mercy, but not before agreeing to Shysa's dying wish: Fett was to take Shysa's place as Mand'alor.[1][10] True to his word, Fett became the new Mandalorian leader,[10] and led the Mandalorians during the chaos of the extragalacticYuuzhan Vong's invasion of the galaxy, first as the Vong's false allies while gaining intelligence on the strange new foes,[6] then as the open enemies of the alien invaders.[1] In the aftermath of the Yuuzhan Vong war, the restoration of Mandalore fell upon Fett's shoulders: the Mand'alor recalled millions of Mandalorians from around the galaxy to recoup the severe population loss incurred during the Vong attack on Mandalore, donated his own personal funds to the recovery effort, negotiated a trade treaty with the technologically gifted Verpine, and presided over the find of a new beskarironore lode, allocating the profits from the sale and manufacturing prospects of the metal for the betterment of Mandalore.[13] Fett's prior relationship with Imperial AdmiralNatasi Daala,[10] elected Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance in 41 ABY,[32] helped to establish a working relationship between the Mandalorians and the galactic government.[33][7]

By 127 ABY, Chernan Ordo had become Mand'alor. Acting on behalf of the Galactic Alliance at the start of the Sith–Imperial War, Ordo led the Mandalorians against the Imperial forces of EmperorRoan Fel during the battle at Botajef. However, Ordo was betrayed by his subordinate, Yaga Auchs, who orchestrated the Mand'alor's demise and succeeded Ordo as the new leader of the Mandalorians. Following the orders of a secret master, Auchs ordered the Mandalorians back to the planet Mandalore, under the premise of rebuilding,[7] just as Boba Fett had years earlier.[13]

Mandalore the First was a mythic figure in Mandalorian history, an ancient leader of the Taung who led his warriors from Roon to conquer a new world which they named in their leader's honor. The loyal Taung also honored Mandalore by recasting themselves as the Mandalorians,[16] or Mando'ade, "sons and daughters of Mandalore."[19] Under Mandalore the First, the Taung tamed the savage landscape of the newly-christened planet Mandalore, slaughtering the gigantic mythosaurs that had made the world their home.[17] Mandalore the First began the tradition of all subsequent leaders of the Mandalorian people taking the title of Mandalore,[1] or Mand'alor, a title meaning "sole ruler," and the native rendering of Mandalore the First's name.[9]

Following in the tradition established by Mandalore the First,[1] another Mandalorian warrior claimed the title of Mand'alor.[20] Leading the Mandalorians in a series of military campaigns to expand their resources and territory, Mandalore the Conqueror was instrumental in the formation of the Mandalorian Crusaders during the early campaigns in which the group came into being,[34] and the Jedi Knight Revan was aware of the Mand'alor's reign.[20]

"My warriors need another crusade. The Empress Teta system is in chaos, overstretched by their many conquests. The witch Aleema and her Jedi devotee Ulic Qel-Droma will fall under the fist of Mandalore!"

Yet another Taung warrior rose through the ranks of the Mandalorian Crusaders and took up the position of Mand'alor, this time at a point prior to 4000 BBY. Mandalore the Indomitable led his Crusaders in a search of worthy foes to fight, taking part in several successful campaigns.[3] In 3996 BBY,[21] Mandalore the Indomitable set his sights on the Empress Teta system, only to run afoul of the fallen Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma, leading an army of the dark side-worshipping Krath cultists. Mandalore and Qel-Droma engaged in single combat on the planet Kuar, where the recently ordained Sith apprentice managed to overcome the Mandalorian leader. Defeated, Mandalore the Indomitable pledged his loyalty and that of his forces to Qel-Droma, drawing the Mandalorians into the growing Great Sith War. Loyal to his new liege, the Mand'alor aided Qel-Droma and the Sith in taking the shipyards of Foerost, and led his warriors in an attack on Coruscant itself. When Qel-Droma was captured by the Jedi during the course of the Coruscant invasion, Mandalore the Indomitable allied with Qel-Droma's Sith Master, Exar Kun, in order to free him.[14]

Impressed with the loyalty Mand'alor displayed in freeing him from his captors, Qel-Droma assigned Mandalore the Indomitable and his warriors with the capture of the Republic aligned planet, Onderon. The Mandalorians rained down on the Onderon city of Iziz atop Basilisk war droids, but the combined resistance of Onderon's Beast Riders and the warships of the Republic proved too much for Mandalore the Indomitable and his forces. While ordering a retreat to Onderon's moon, Dxun, where Mandalore intended to lose their beast-riding pursuers, the Mand'alor's war droid was shot down on the hostile moon. Emerging from the remains of his Basilisk mount, Mandalore the Indomitable soon found himself surrounded by a number of dangerous beasts native to Dxun's jungles. Despite his attempts to fight off the creatures, they eventually managed to overcome and kill the Mandalorian leader. While seeking out their downed leader, one of Mandalore the Indomitable's followers came upon the mask of Mandalore,[14] and in accordance with Mandalorian tradition, claimed it and the title of Mand'alor for himself.[21]

Claiming the mask of the deceased Mandalore the Indomitable on Dxun, a Taung Mandalorian Crusader proclaimed himself to be the new Mand'alor,[14] Mandalore the Ultimate. Convinced that the fabled "Great Last Battle" of Mandalorian lore,[1] and spurred secretly by the Sith,[12] Mandalore the Ultimate began a new campaign of conquest. Drawing from the Neo-Crusader sect developing on the planet Mandalore, the Mand'alor forged a new army,[3] drawing recruits from numerous other species beyond the dwindling Taung race, accepting any who joined the Mandalorians as equals to those who had naturally been born into the culture, fundamentally changing what it meant to be a Mandalorian forever after. Over the following two decades, Mandalore the Ultimate led his forces to capture independent worlds on the fringes of Republic space,[1] finally eliciting a response from the Republic once the planet Taris was threatened, beginning the conflict known as the Mandalorian Wars in earnest.[35]

While Republic Intelligence was unable to determine the identity of Mand'alor,[36] Mandalore the Ultimate made a name for himself with devastatingattacks on Taris and Vanquo, before securing his infamy with the nuclear bombing that brought a swift and brutal end to the battle at Serroco.[37] After participating in a failed attempt to acquire an armada of dangerous weaponized exogorths from the ArkanianArkoh Adasca,[38] Mandalore the Ultimate redoubled his assault, devastating the Republic Navy time and again.[12] It was not until a splinter group of Jedi led by the rogue Knights Revan and Malak, entered into the conflict against the wishes of the Jedi Council that the tide finally began to turn in favor of the Republic, and against the armies of Mandalore. This downturn came to a head at Malachor V, where in the midst of what became the final battle of the Mandalorian Wars, Revan personally slew Mandalore the Ultimate.[35] With the Mand'alor defeated, Revan denied the Mandalorians their right of succession by taking the Mandalore's mask. Without the guidance of a new leader, the Mandalorian clans were left to fracture, drifting from conquering warriors, to mainly mercenaries and bounty hunters.[12]

After the defeat of Mandalore the Ultimate and Revan's denial of Mandalorian succession, the Mandalorian clans fragmented without a leader's guidance. However, one of the last living Taung to survive the species' near extinction following the Mandalorian Wars[1] attempted to reunite the Mandalorians as a new Mand'alor.[3] A rebellious Mandalorian soldier attempted to use the skills of the assassin droidHK-47 to kill the Mand'alor, but the droid failed, only to be captured and reprogrammed to kill the soldier who had sent it, a task the robotic assassin carried out successfully. The following year, the Taung Mandalore sent a team of Mandalorians to the Shadowlands of Kashyyyk to test stealth technology.[39] At some point between 3954 BBY[20] and 3951 BBY, the dying Taung Mand'alor encountered the Mandalorian mercenary, Canderous Ordo. Ordo, having reclaimed the previous lost mask of Mandalore, was seeking to reunite the fractured clans under his rule. The Taung Mand'alor claimed the he was the true heir to Mandalore the Indomitable, and that Mandalore the Ultimate had been a Sith-backed pretender to the title. Before dying, the Taung bequeathed his own armor to Ordo, asking the man to preserve the Mandalorian traditions. Ordo agreed to the Mand'alor's final request, taking the Taung's armor and incorporating into it the mask of Mandalore, in addition to adopting the fallen leader's clan into his own nascent reunification movement.[3]

Canderous Ordo was born a member of the Mandalorian Clan Ordo on the planet Ordo, where he grew to be a tough and skilled warrior through rigorous combat.[39] When Mandalore the Ultimate set out to form the Neo-Crusader army, Ordo was recruited as a battle tactician rather than a common foot soldier.[1] By the start of the Mandalorian Wars, Ordo had attained a commander rank, and earned a victory for the Mandalorians at the battle of Althir III, where he defeated an Althiri fleet, but at the cost of numerous allied lives. As the war with the Republic escalated, Ordo found the tactics of the Republic to cowardly, and their forces weak. Only when the Jedi Knights Revan and Malak entered the war on the Republic's behalf did Ordo believe the Mandalorians had found a worthy opponent.[39] Though he married, after Mandalore the Ultimate was defeated by Revan and the Mandalorians lost the war, Ordo abandoned his wife and clan to go into exile,[20] where he took up work as a mercenary, and an enforcer for a Tarisian crime boss. Ordo's life changed again when he was found by the amnesiac former Jedi Revan, choosing to follow and aid the man who had once been the Mandalorians' greatest enemy. Together with a group of other individuals loyal to Revan, Ordo challenged the now Darth Malak and his Sith Empire; Revan eventually challenged and defeated Malak, ending the Jedi Civil War[39] and with his memories of the greater Sith threat lurking beyond known space, Revan delivered the mask of Mandalore into Ordo's possession, with instructions to reunite the Mandalorians in preparation for the future dangers the Sith posed.[12]

Taking the name "Mandalore the Preserver," Ordo absorbed the clan of a dying Taung claimant to the Mand'alor title into his own, and set out to rebuild the Mandalorian power base from Mandalore the Ultimate's abandoned outpost on Dxun.[3] With a new base of operations, Ordo called upon Mandalorian recruits of all walks of life from across the galaxy and, inspired by Ordo's vision of the return of Mandalorian influence, numerous clans banded together and joined him on Dxun. In 3951 BBY, the Jedi Exile—a former follower of Revan during the Mandalorian Wars—happened upon Canderous' growing operation. With some convincing and proof of the Exile's worth, Ordo aided the former Jedi General in a fight against the Onderon generalVaklu, before setting out with Exile in her quest to destroy a trio of new Sith Lords. During his travels with the Exile, Ordo recruited several additional Mandalorian mercenaries to his cause. In a battle over the planet Telos IV, Ordo and his soldiers took part in killing Darth Nihilus alongside the Jedi Exile, and when it came time to challenge the duplicitous Darth Traya, Ordo returned to the site of the Neo-Crusaders' defeat, Malachor V. The Exile was successful in defeating Darth Traya, and Ordo parted ways with her soon after, continuing on his path toward restoring the Mandalorians.[12]

"In the arenas of Geonosis, a young gladiator had risen to prominence, calling himself the new Mandalore—a title unclaimed for centuries, a title reserved for the greatest warrior in the galaxy. A warrior worthy to lead the Mandalorians."

Centuries passed without a Mand'alor to lead the clans, until around 3667 BBY.[11] With the return of the Sith Empire from exile, the Imperials wished to obtain the martial services of the Mandalorians. Though some Mandalorians took the Empire's offer of work, most declined the repeated recruitment attempts of Imperial diplomats. The Empire changed its strategy: singling out a successful Mandalorian gladiator in the arenas of Geonosis, Imperial Intelligence aided his rise by drugging his competitors, and spurring the crowds of spectators to call for the gladiator's ascension as Mand'alor.[22] The proud warrior claimed the title, becoming the new Mandalore, and rallied an army of Mandalorian followers from across the galaxy with the promise of challenging the legendary Knights of the Jedi Order.[11] In service to the Sith Empire, the Mandalore led his soldiers to blockade the Hydian Way hyperspace lane. Thoroughly defeating the Jedi attack group sent to remove them, Mandalore's blockade held strong until the combined effort of a group of smugglers and Republic cruisers finally broke through.[22] With this loss, the clans' support for their new leader wavered. In an effort to rejuvenate the clans and restore their faith, the Mand'alor initiated the Great Hunt, a competition for glory on a galactic scale. The Great Hunt's champion, Artus, challenged Mandalore to a duel following his victory, shooting and killing the Mandalorian leader history would look back upon as "Mandalore the Lesser." Artus became the new Mand'alor, taking the epithet "Mandalore the Vindicated."[4]

A Mandalorian warrior of Clan Lok,[40] Artus Lok began his rise under Mandalore the Lesser.[4] When the Mand'alor called for an army, numerous Mandalorians across the galaxy rallied to their new leader. However, when Mandalore's efforts were overcome[11] and support among the clans waned, Mandalore the Lesser initiated the Great Hunt, a galaxy-wide competition for glory. Artus took the Mand'alor's challenge, and eventually emerged as Grand Champion of the Great Hunt. This success was not enough for Artus however, and he proceeded to challenge Mandalore to a duel, wherein he shot and killed the reigning Mand'alor, claiming the fallen leader's title in the process. As "Mandalore the Vindicated," Artus slowly consolidated his power over the Mandalorian clans, and successfully overcame an uprising led by the soldier Jicoln Cadera, who believed that the Mandalorians should follow the path of Mandalore the Preserver and ally with the Republic. With his authority made absolute, Mandalore the Vindicated ensured that the Mandalorians remained the cautious and well-paid allies of the Sith Empire.[4] Artus' ascension to the role of Mand'alor caught the attention of Jedi MasterGnost-Dural, and the Kel Dor Jedi made an effort to investigate whether Mandalore the Vindicated was an Imperial puppet as his predecessor had been.[22]

Some time after the reign of Mandalore the Vindicated[41] the ruthless Mandalorian[1] Ung Kusp claimed the title of Mandalore, rallying a number of loyal clans to support him. Kusp was a rival of[23] the honorable Mandalorian training master, Jaing.[1] Jaing left the Mandalorians after he perceived that Kusp had betrayed him, while Kusp viewed the betrayal as Jaing's. Ung Kusp dispatched a team of Mandalorian mercenaries to the facility of an Outer Rim cyberneticsdoctor in order to recover a Sith artifact. There, the mercenaries found Jaing and his apprentice, the Gen'dai known as Durge. Jaing was killed in the resulting fight, though Durge managed to repel the Mandalorian attackers and, with prompting from the cyberneticist, left to hunt down Kusp as vengeance for his mentor's death.[23]

Aga Awaud was a Mandalorian mercenary who lived during the New Sith Wars. As the Candorian plague spread across large swathes of the galaxy, Awaud returned home to Mandalore in 1058 BBY, only to find that most of his clan had fallen to the ravenous disease, and Mandalorian space was patrolled by convoys of starships fighting off raiders from the surrounding sectors of lawless space. Awaud was appalled by the deteriorated state of affairs he found, and rallied the Mandalorians throughout the galaxy to take up the defense of the Mandalore sector in a movement that came to be known as "The Return." When Awaud called, Mandalorians rallied to his cause, and in 1051 BBY, Awaud rose to become Mand'alor, taking the title of "Mandalore the Uniter" as he re-established Mandalorian space as a strong and industrious state, providing protection and inspiration to surrounding sectors.[2]

"Here's why you can't exterminate us, aruetii. We're not huddled in one place—we span the galaxy. We need no lords or leaders—so you can't destroy our command. We can live without technology—so we can fight with our bare hands. We have no species or bloodline—so we can rebuild our ranks with others who want to join us. We're more than just a people or an army, aruetii. We're a culture. We're an idea. And you can't kill ideas—but we can certainly kill you."

The daughter of Uvhen Chal, Ranah Teh Naast was a Mandalorian who rose to the position of Mand'alor[25] at some point in history prior to the downfall of the Republic.[42] Taking the sobriquet "Mandalore the Destroyer" during her tenure as the leader of the Mandalorians, Naast led her people to lay siege to the city of Luon. While her forces besieged the embattled city, Mandalore the Destroyer made contact with the Consul of Luon. During this exchange, the Mand'alor offered the Consul a final opportunity to surrender the city rather than continue to resist, and detailed the virtues of Mandalorian culture and its ability to endure that which would cripple other groups. She also stated that while the forces of Luon were incapable of destroying the Mandalorians due to their flexible structure, the Mandalorians were more than able to destroy the city.[25]

After defeating the Ithullans in a war over a Narcolethe distillery, several Mandalorian warrior clans went on to enact the genocide of the Ithullan species. Despite this act, the Jedi Council of the era did nothing in the way of seeking justice,[21] and nearly a hundred years later, the bounty hunter Durge[24] allied with a group of rogue Jedi Knights to strike at the reigning Mand'alor, killing him in retaliation.[21] The Mandalorians loyal to the fallen Mand'alor captured Durge, however, and subjected the Gen'dai hunter to torture so severe, it took several long decades for Durge to recover from the injuries they inflicted.[24]

A native of Concord Dawn and a member of the world's law-keepingJourneyman Protectors, Jaster Mereel was an extraordinary soldier and a respected man of strong morals, morals that drove Mereel to kill a corrupt superior officer in an act that saw him banished from his home. Mereel later joined the Mandalorians, and sensing a general dissatisfaction with the decline in ethics among the more dishonorable members of the warrior culture, he fought to become the new Mand'alor and bring a new ideal to the clans,[1] beating out the barbaric Tor Vizsla in the process. Mereel declared that any Mandalorian who wished to fight would do so as honorable, highly-paid soldiers,[26] and issued the Supercommando Codex, a new statute of behavior for Mandalorian mercenaries.[1] Opposed by the pacifistic New Mandalorian government,[17] and Vizsla's own radical followers, calling themselves the Death Watch, civil war broke out amongst between the violent Death Watch and Mereel's own loyal soldiers, who proclaimed themselves the "True Mandalorians."[1] Mereel led his soldiers against the Death Watch in a battle on his home planet, one the True Mandalorians were initially losing prior to the intervention of Mereel's Journeyman Protector replacement, a man by the name of Fett. When Fett's family was attacked by the Death Watch for aiding Mereel, the Mand'alor was able to save the Protector's son, Jango Fett, and with the young boy's help, the Mandalorians escaped Vizsla and later turned the tide, defeating the Death Watch at a nearby town, and nearly killing their leader.[26]

With his parents dead, Mereel became a surrogate father to the young Jango Fett, and believing the Death Watch to be no more following their defeat on Concord Dawn, Mereel took to leading the True Mandalorians as a mercenary army. In 58 BBY, Mereel and the Mandalorians were contracted by the Korda Defense Force to extract an inexperienced security team from hostile fire on Korda Six. With Kordan intelligence suggesting minimal resistance, Mereel viewed the mission as "easy credits" and brought his army in, only to find that an ambush had been laid by the Death Watch. When Mereel's second-in-command, Montross, refused to obey the Mand'alor's order to retreat and found himself surrounded by enemy forces, Mereel was forced to rescue his disobedient subordinate, only to come under fire by Tor Vizsla himself. Montross abandoned the Mandalorian leader, using his jetpack to escape Vizsla's barrage while Mereel was left to perish. Jango Fett attempted to rescue his adoptive father, but could not reach the Mand'alor in time; mortally wounded, Mereel died in the arms of his surrogate son, and Fett returned the fallen Mandalore's body to the Mandalorians' extraction point. Montross attempted to claim the Mand'alor title, but when the truth of his betrayal was exposed, the Mandalorians rallied to Fett as their new leader. Montross slipped into exile, as Jango Fett succeeded Mereel as Mand'alor.[26]

The son of a Journeyman Protector, Jango Fett grew up on his family's farm on Concord Dawn. His quiet farming lifestyle was uprooted, however, when the civil war between the True Mandalorians and Death Watch spilled onto his home planet. Fett's family was destroyed by Tor Vizsla and his Death Watch soldiers, only escaping their fate due to the intervention of Jaster Mereel, Mand'alor and leader of the True Mandalorians. Fett was taken in by Mereel, whom he looked up to, becoming like the man's son as he joined the Mandalorian culture. When Mereel fell to Death Watch fire on Korda 6, Fett recovered his body from the battlefield and took up his surrogate father's role as Mand'alor. Fett led the Mandalorians throughout the Mandalorian Civil War, up until the Mandalorians travelled to the planet Galidraan, where they were hired to resist a political uprising. However, the governor of Galidraan was secretly in league with the Death Watch, and called upon the aid of the Jedi Council in stopping what he claimed was a Mandalorian-initiated massacre, with the Death Watch providing the body count as evidence. As a Jedi strike team touched down on Galidraan and demanded the Mandalorians' surrender under threat of destruction, Fett ordered the innocent Mandalorians to fight back. Though the Jedi were not without casualties, the course of the battle soon turned against the True Mandalorians, and when Fett's second-in-command, Myles, was slain by a Jedi, the Mand'alor killed six Jedi with his bare hands, ending with Myles' killer. But even this was not enough, and by the battle's end, Fett was the only True Mandalorian alive. Captured by the Jedi and turned over to Galidraan's governor, Fett was subsequently sold into slavery aboard a spicetransport, where he stayed until a pirate attack allowed him to escape.[26]

Reclaiming the Mandalorian armor that had been stolen from him by the governor of Galidraan, Fett set out to exact his revenge upon Tor Vizsla. Tracking the Death Watch leader to Corellia, Fett destroyed Vizsla's ship, and engaged him in a fight that led to the planet's surface. After a lengthy brawl, Vizsla poisoned Fett, but the Mand'alor was able to inflict a deep wound to Vizsla's abdomen, in turn. When a nearby pack of Corellian dire-cats smelled the spilled blood, they attacked and killed Vizsla, but ignored Fett due to the scent of the poison. With Vizsla dead and the war over, Fett turned to a life of bounty hunting to earn a living.[26] The loss of his comrades and his time as a slave made Fett a bitter man, and he grew distant from the rest of the Mandalorian people and his role as Mand'alor.[5] In 32 BBY, Fett was chosen by CountDooku of Serenno—secretly the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus—to become the template for a clone army,[43] but did not live to see their deployment, as he was killed in the Petranaki arena on Geonosis by Jedi Master Mace Windu, during the early stages of what became the first battle of the Clone Wars.[44]

The role of Mand'alor was later assumed by Spar after his arrival on Mandalore. A former Advanced Recon Commandoclone trooper designated "Alpha-Ø2," the informally named Spar found himself subject to the genetic memories of his progenitor, Jango Fett. Fleeing from the watery world of Kamino, Spar deserted the Grand Army of the Republic[1] with the aid of Mij Gilamar, a Mandalorian clone trainer whom Spar had befriended.[5] After roaming the galaxy as a bounty hunter until Fett's death at the Battle of Geonosis, Spar was drawn to the planet Mandalore, where he felt driven to rebuild Mandalore's supercommando army;[1] befriending a local clan chieftain and constable by the name of Fenn Shysa, Spar was encouraged by Shysa to act as Jango Fett's heir and become the next Mand'alor. Spar eventually agreed,[5] becoming the new leader of the Mandalorian warrior clans. As Mand'alor, Spar won out over the previously ascendant New Mandalorian faction, and proclaimed himself "Mandalore the Resurrector" as a symbol of the warrior clans' return to dominance. Overturning the New Mandalorians' stance of neutrality in the Clone Wars,[17] Spar led the Mandalorians to side with the Separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems, against the Jedi Spar hated for their part in destroying the True Mandalorian army[16] and a Republic Spar viewed as oppressive.[5]

Spar formed a new army of Mandalorian Supercommandos in the image of the fallen True Mandalorians,[16] dubbed the Mandalorian Protectors, comprised of recruits from the local police and even former members of the violent Death Watch. With the Mandalorian Protectors, Spar seized the facilities of the Mandalorian starship manufacturer, MandalMotors, for exclusive use by the CIS.[1] Spar's first-hand knowledge of the tactics employed by the Grand Army's clone troops, he led his army as a blitzkrieg force, and their success led to the Confederacy employing the Protectors as an elite shock force against the most stubborn enemies. Spar led his soldiers to battle the Republic at New Holstice, Null, Zaadja, and even a raid on the cloning facilities of Kamino.[16] But after the devastating defeat at Norvall II, which left only Spar, Shysa, and one other Mandalorian Protector alive in the battle's aftermath,[1] Spar returned to Mandalore. Shellshocked, he abdicated his role as Mand'alor, leaving the position vacant until the Clone Wars' end, when Fenn Shysa ascended in the face of the rise of the Galactic Empire.[5] Spar eventually left Mandalore, and traveled to the Extrictarium Nebula, where he was found by Ailyn Vel. Believing Spar to be her estranged father Boba Fett, due their shared nature as clones of Jango Fett, Vel killed Spar and took his armor for herself.[1]

Growing up on Mandalore, Fenn Shysa enjoyed spending most of his time with his boyhood friend, Tobbi Dala. The two became constables as they grew older,[1] and Shysa even became a clan chieftain. A smart and savvy man,[5] Shysa recognized the marginalization Mandalore suffered under the Republic, and when the rogue ARC trooper Spar came to the Mandalorian homeworld,[1] Shysa endeavored to convince the clone of Jango Fett to act as his progenitor's heir, and become the new Mand'alor.[5] When Spar agreed, and became "Mandalore the Resurrector," Shysa was only too eager to join his newly formed Mandalorian Protector army,[1] earning a reputation as Spar's most loyal follower. The Protectors became a fearsome fighting force on the side of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and won numerous battles the CIS's battle droids could not,[16] but that all changed when the Mandalorians were ambushed on Norvall II in a trap designed by the cunning Darth Sidious. Of the original Mandalorian force, only Shysa, his friend Dala, and the Mand'alor himself survived, returning to Mandalore near the war's end.[1] As the machinations of Darth Sidious—secretly the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, Palpatine—transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire with himself as the new Emperor,[45] Mandalore came onto the radar of the new galactic government, seeking to establish a base of operations for the sector on the Mandalorian homeworld. Fearing the intentions of the Empire were not so simple, Shysa reluctantly became the new Mand'alor, as part of his preparations to remove the Imperial presence should they reveal themselves unfriendly.[5]

Shysa's fears were realized when the Empire's hold on Mandalore became an iron grip: the Imperials enslaved large portions of the Mandalorian populace,[16] and began strip-mining the world for lightsaber-resistant beskar iron ore.[13] Forging a new, covert Mandalorian Protector army, Shysa battled the Imperial forces in a guerrilla war for years[16] until 3 ABY, when Tobbi Dala sacrificed his life to destroy the Imperial's base of operations, kill the Imperial overseer, and allow for the numerous Mandalorian slaves to regain their freedom.[46] Despite the loss of his oldest friend, Shysa set out to revitalize Mandalore,[1] forcefully removing Imperial Grand AdmiralMiltin Takel from Mandalorian space, and strengthening the Mandalorian Protectors with armor, weapons, and hundreds of Mandalorian recruits liberated from the Imperials.[16] Under Shysa's leadership, the Mandalorians flourished, but his many successes could not erase the past: Kaminoan cloner Taun We contracted the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett to kill the last Mandalorian Protector responsible for the attack on Kamino years prior. Fett hunted Shysa to the planet Shogun,[1] where the two came under attack by the Sevvets.[10] Mortally wounded while saving Fett's life,[1] Shysa, who had believed in the strength of the Fett name ever since Jango's death, requested that Fett succeed him as Mand'alor upon his death. Indebted, Fett agreed to Shysa's final request, and killed Shysa as an act of mercy, to spare him from the horrendous fate the Sevvets would otherwise have inflicted. True to his word, Fett became the next Mand'alor.[10]

The clone son of the one-time Mand'alor Jango Fett,[5] Boba Fett had only begun his training in the Mandalorian ways[47] when his father died on Geonosis.[44] With only the holobook Jango had left him,[48] and Jaster Mereel's Supercommando Codex to guide him, the young Boba Fett became a bounty hunter just as his father had been.[1] Surviving through the Clone Wars, around the age of sixteen Fett met a fellow bounty hunter by the name of Sintas Vel, whom he fell in love with and married. For a time, the two settled down together on Concord Dawn, where Fett attempted to earn a living as a Journeyman Protector, and the couple had a daughter together, Ailyn. However, when Sintas was raped by Fett's superior officer, Fett killed the man, only to be arrested and later exiled for his crime. His relationship with his family rapidly deteriorated, and he later divorced; Sintas was kidnapped and imprisoned in carbonite just prior to their daughter's sixteenth birthday, and with her mother presumed dead, Ailyn grew to hate her father. Fett returned to his life as a bounty hunter, where he came to make a name for himself as one of the best in the galaxy.[49] It was only when he was hired to hunt down Fenn Shysa that Fett was forced back into the world of the Mandalorians. Honoring Shysa's dying wish, Fett succeeded Shysa as Mand'alor,[10] pledging to follow in his father and adopted grandfather's footsteps, and do what was best for the Mandalorians.[49]

Fett's leadership of the Mandalorians was put to the test during the Yuuzhan Vong's invasion of the galaxy. Having unknowingly established a working relationship with the Vong's advanced scout, Nom Anor, the Mandalorians were invited to continue to serve the Yuuzhan Vong. Realizing the danger the extragalactic invaders posed, Fett agreed to continuing service, with the stipulation that the Mandalore sector remain unharmed; secretly the Mandalorians sought to feed gathered intelligence to the New Republic, and make preparations for when the Vong finally turned their attention on Mandalorian space.[6] When the Vong discovered Fett's duplicity, they attacked Mandalore with the intent to destroy the Mandalorians.[13] Though they suffered severe casualties, the Mandalorians defeated the Vong and became one of the only civilizations to repel the invaders on their own.[9] With their true loyalties exposed, Fett led the Mandalorian Protectors to openly oppose the Yuuzhan Vong, and fought against them onnumerousbattlefields across the galaxy.[1] When the war was over and the Vong were defeated, Fett became involved with rebuilding Mandalore, all the while attempted to build a relationship with his estranged granddaughter, Mirta Gev. As Mand'alor, Fett summoned two million Mandalorians from around the galaxy to return to Mandalore in order to boost the dwindling population, presided over the discovery of a massive new beskar lode and its impact on Mandalore's economy, and established a treaty with the technologically-gifted Verpine species.[13]

Chernan Ordo was a Mandalorian soldier who held the title of Mandalore at the beginning of the Sith-Imperial War in 127 ABY. In that same year, Ordo and an armed force of Mandalorians were contracted by the Galactic Alliance to defend the planet Botajef against the forces of Roan Fel's Galactic Empire until Alliance reinforcements arrived. Though Ordo and his soldiers did their best to hold out against the Imperial onslaught, the Mand'alor was felled during the chaotic battle by the machinations of his traitorous subordinate, Yaga Auchs. With Chernan Ordo dead, Auchs ascended to the position of Mand'alor, and took command of the Mandalorians.[7]

A Mandalorian soldier who served under the authority of Mand'alor Chernan Ordo, Yaga Auchs was one of many Mandalorians who followed their leader to the planet Botajef as part of a contract with the Galactic Alliance. The Mandalorians had been tasked with defending the world against the attacking Imperial army until Alliance reinforcements could arrive, but Auchs was under orders from a master separate from Mandalore. In pursuit of his own agenda, Auchs disabled the Mandalorians' communications, and murdered his fellow Mandalorians responsible for manning the comm station. When he was discovered by the Mandalorian soldier Hondo Karr, Auchs shot and attempted to kill Karr as well; though Karr survived, Auchs' actions had already led to Chernan Ordo's death, and it was Auchs who succeeded the late Mand'alor. Withdrawing the Mandalorians from Botajef, Auchs ordered the Mandalorians to remain on Mandalore and out of the war. Auchs' betrayal was unknown to the Mandalorian masses, but having failed to kill Hondo Karr on Botajef, the scorned soldier teamed with his former wife, Tes Vevec, to expose Auchs and take revenge.[7]

"Pre Vizsla—played by Jon Favreau—he is the person who's trying to maintain historic Mandalore. He is the one that's maintaining their history, the concept of the Mand'alor, the one leader, and he wants to usurp Satine. [...] He is the lineage of the Mandalorians—at least, he's convinced himself that he is."

↑The Mandalorians in Prototypes have armor significantly later in design than what was being worn during the time of Mandalore the Vindicated, the last canonically known Mandalore in the chronologically. The History of the Mandalorians article also makes reference to Ung Kusp existing closer to the time of the New Sith Wars.

↑Mandalore the Destroyer's chronological position within this listing is not official. Appearing only within the context of a quoted epigraph at the start of the eleventh chapter of Imperial Commando: 501st, no canonical date for her reign was provided. The current placement results from the conclusion that the state of Mandalorian culture she describes—specifically the multi-species nature of the Mandalorians, and the reduced importance of the Mandalore's authority—indicates Mandalore the Destroyer reigned at some point after Mandalore the Vindicated, but before Jaster Mereel and the solid chronology of Mandalores he begins. Mandalore the Destroyer's place in the line of Mandalores is subject to change should future sources reveal a more definative timeframe.